The present invention relates to animal feeders and in particular to animal feeding apparatus which are used to selectively proportion the amount of feed delivered to a feeding station.
Animal feeders have long been used to automatically distribute animal feed to various animal feeding areas, thereby obviating the need to hand fill individual feed troughs. Common animal feeders include a feed conveying system, such as a chain conveyor or the like, which runs overhead to various animal feeding stations. At each station, a holding or filling bin is mounted in a position relative to the feed conveyor so as to be filled with feed by operation of the conveyor. To distribute feed into the animal feed troughs, a discharge gate on the holding bin is either automatically or manually opened, emptying the bin into the trough.
Such systems operate quite satisfactorily when a given size and/or number of animals are serviced by a single feed bin. However, quite often the size and/or number of animals within a particular pen varies from time to time, thus periodically requiring a different amount of feed to be distributed to that feeding station. For example, as the particular animals being fed mature, the amount of feed they require changes. For these reasons, the amount of feed to be delivered by the holding bin must be varied according to the particular feed requirements of any given time presented by the particular feeding station. Further, it is very important that certain types of breeding stock, for example sows and gilts, be prevented from overeating. If such breeding stock is limited to the proper amount of feed, healthier animals are produced, in addition to the limitation of feed waste and spoilage. It is therefore necessary from time to time to reduce the quantity of feed distributed to such breeding stock.
Heretofore, various apparatus and methods have been used in order to vary the amount of feed distributed by a typical animal feed holding bin. Due to the wide variance in feed requirements, there remains however, a need for an animal feeder or proportioner which provides a wide degree of control over the amount of feed delivered by the system, one which also permits a great many very small and relatively large incremental variations in the feed amount. It is desirable that such a feed proportioner can be adjusted quickly and easily, without requiring special tools or dismantling of the system.